Good job

Just like his growth chart, he is within the top 10 percentile in his school in terms of academic performance this time. He scored an average of 92%, ranking 11th out of 218 students. He has improved by only about 5% in average score but jumped from a position of 67 last year.

For his commendable improvement, Mummy has promised to buy him a Transformer robot which he demanded to have it on the same day he brought home the report book. We finally agreed that he will get it only during the weekend when we take him to the store.

Good feng shui to keep the kitchen clean

I discovered this feng shui tip which I don't think anybody will hesitate to follow.

'Daily sweeping kitchen floor, keeping garbage bins clean and keeping utensils clean everyday brings amazing wealth luck.' No harm trying if this can kill two birds with one stone.

He loves barbequeing

Until the day we had our first barbeque at our home with family member, I never knew W is patient enough to sit at the scorching hot pit to grill yummy food. And, he wasn't stingy at all. He grilled not for himself, he offered to people around him.

He was at the pit long enough to be called a patient boy, unlike Mummy who despises the pit,especially when it comes to satisfying her hunger pangs. His rosy cheeks testified how long he was at the pit and notice he looked rather bored?

He makes me realise something. He is more patient than I think he is.

My kid's a great help

This was posted on 2 August 2009 and I am reposting it due to the loss of the original one.

He's doing much more than just showering Wyng. He's now frequently washing the dishes for me (not that Mom's lazy bones are playing tricks but Mom's sensitive skin can't take it anymore). Well, that's only if he has completed all his homework. Otherwise, I won't forgive myself for being a slaver to force her own son to slog while she folds her arm.

Apart from the dishes which is becoming more of a routine now, other tasks delegated to him apart from washing of his own school shoes, he's now given new tasks such as sweeping the floor, setting the table for meals, supervising his little brother on certain tasks, spring cleaning the house, helping to wash my car (when Mom wants to save a few ringgit) and tidying up his own room. This is not something to shout about for a lot of parents, but for Hoe who is a rather sluggish boy, these are something he should be praised for and rewarded.

When it comes to reward, his star reward system must come in.

Favourite chicken

Seems easy enough to prepare.

Like all nuts, cashew nuts are no exception when it comes as an excellent source of protein and fiber. They are good for the heart as cashew nuts are rich in mono-unsaturated fat as well as a good source of potassium, B vitamins and folate.

Phosphorous, copper, magnesium and selenium are also found in them. Just like peanuts, cashew nuts are usually salted and may contribute to increase blood pressure due to the added sodium. So always buy unsalted plain roasted cashew nuts.

Diced Chicken with Cashew Nuts Recipe

This is a great and healthy Chinese dish and the cashew nuts must only be added at the last stage of cooking to ensure that the nuts stay crunchy. A few quick stirs will do. Before cooking, roast the nuts in the oven to remove excess moisture.

Ingredients:

2 chilies

2 stalks spring onions (scallions)

1/2 green pepper (capsicum)

200 g Chicken breast meat

3 slices ginger

100 g Roasted cashew nuts (unsalted)

Seasoning A

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon dark soy sauce

Seasoning B

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon rice wine

1 teaspoon sugar

Method:

Slice the chilies. Rinse the spring onions (scallions), chop half and cut the other into sections. Slice the green pepper. Rinse and dice the chicken breast meat. Mix with seasoning A and marinate for 10 minutes.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan and stir-fry the ginger slices, chopped spring onion and chilies. Add the chicken and seasoning B, and cook until half-done. Then add the green pepper and toss well, add the cashew nuts and stir evenly. Serve while hot.

When can these problems cease?

When you get a new car, you may not be free from problems. Because there are manufacturing defects inherent in the car that you may be facing. There will be a period until all these are solved. You take it to be examined where lies the problems, they say 'they don't do inspecting on weekends'. So, another trip is required. When I am finally available to spend half a day at the workshop, Alas! 'We know your problem but there's no stock at the moment'. What else? Another trip later.

When you buy any new electrical appliances, you are also not free from problems. The culprit is defects in the factory. Is QC still practised?

So, one problem after another that we, those working from home, need to cope with, amongst other trillions of minute and major problems. Call them challenges, to be positive.

Only Lady Luck can help us.

Filthy kid

Did he look like he has just come out from a coal mine? Or has just completed his art painting session, with his knees? The answer is none of both.

He had just come back from school. He got filthier by the day. He has loads of reasons when questioned for coming back in such filth.

'We sat on the floor' which means dirty pants.

'Teacher asked us to walk on our knees during PE' which means dirt-stained knees.

He couldn't explain 'black' palms except that he must have crawled on the floor, or worse still, lied on the floor as his t-shirt was not spared from the dirt.

Do you know how stale rice looks like?

Here's the picture of leftover rice left in the rice cooker untouched for 3 days.  This was the deed of a busy work-at-home Mom who are preoccupied with her work that there was something undone in the kitchen.

The smell is that of honeydew. And the sight is that of cottony orangey rice.

Eeee... yucks! my kids scringed as I brought the rice cooker closer to them and when I asked Hoe to snap a picture.